Does the Yi take the translation we use into account?

[martin]

You mean there are no women in that island?? And still the man, not having to deal with any relationships that would push him into an insecurity frenzy to the point of wearing the spine of his 1842 version of the Yi, asking the monkeys to interpret for him and all, feels compelled to bug the oracle about fish?? Man, with that much peace I would wait for the fish to jump on my lap and would have enough to feed the monkeys and the ants!!!

Well, Bob occasionally does get fish in his lap, and in his face too.
But the fish isn't alive and doesn't jump. It is rotten fish that one female monkey throws at the other.
There are two female monkeys on the island and there is only one male monkey .. do I need to say more?

 

[bruce_g]

Getting smacked in the head with a dead fish is no fun. But maybe it is the answer Bob needed?

Really, though, even without the old 1842 book, Bob finds the answer he looks for. He’ll find a way, and will find his answer. All 64 hexagrams, complete with their 6 change lines, are all around him, even on an island. All he need do is ask and then listen carefully. The same powers are there that are here; all it needs is a voice. Maybe the wind speaks today, or the ocean; perhaps a flying bird brings the message. All he need do is trust, and then reflect.

 

[Sparhawk]

There are two female monkeys on the island and there is only one male monkey .. do I need to say more?

Ah... Two female monkeys and a male one would turn the balance on its head, indeed...

 

[bruce_g]

Ah... Two female monkeys and a male one would turn the balance on its head, indeed...

The smart male will stay out of the way. His fate rests on how the two females get along, how they resolve their differences, how well each finds their place in the order. If he interferes: misfortune. The superior monkey bides his time, trusts fate. Then great good fortune comes by itself.

 

[martin]

Maybe the wind speaks today, or the ocean; perhaps a flying bird brings the message. All he need do is trust, and then reflect

Yes, but can he do that with a mind that is isolated from the whole, a mind filled with millions of ant-thoughts in which the id and the superego are throwing rotten fish at each other?

 

[Sparhawk]

The smart male will stay out of the way. His fate rests on how the two females get along, how they resolve their differences, how well each finds their place in the order. If he interferes: misfortune. The superior monkey bides his time, trusts fate. Then great good fortune comes by itself.

We are talking about a "male monkey" here, trusting him to stay out of the way, right?? Ahem, they are primates, like in our "first cousins" in the food chain; it is a very know fact that male primates don't carry the "stay-out-of-the-way" gene and that the female ones have two copies of the "get-head-on-pretty-much-in-the way" gene. The monkey is doomed!!

L